


Connection

by incurableinsanity



Series: Winterhawk Shorts [15]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Minor Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Winterhawk Week, soul mark au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 20:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4890625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/incurableinsanity/pseuds/incurableinsanity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They say that soulmates can sometimes sense each other’s emotions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Connection

**Author's Note:**

> Winterhawk Week Day 8: Pleasure
> 
> Also available on [tumblr](http://torii-storii.tumblr.com/post/130066324079/connection)

They say that soulmates can sometimes sense each other’s emotions. So even before you meet, you can occasionally feel what they feel.

Bucky’s never felt anything from his soulmate. He’s young, only ten, so maybe they haven’t been born yet. Small, tiny, Stevie – his new friend he feels he needs to protect – is the same as him.

A few kids have actually met their ‘childhood sweethearts’ already, those who grow up to be in love. Bucky thinks it’s dumb, because it ruins the mystery early.

 

 

 

Into the war, Bucky still doesn’t feel anything. He often looks at the bow and arrow on his left shoulder blade when he can. He likes the way it looks, unlike some soul marks that are weird and unusual. Steve’s small chest holds a weird blue circle in the center, awkward and out of place.

Then Zola takes hold of his unit, and Bucky’s glad his soulmate doesn’t feel his emotions because the pain is unbearable.

 

 

 

Steve’s big and it takes getting used to. That blue circle looks less like it engulfs his chest now though. Smaller, between his pectorals.

“Still don’t feel anything?” Steve asks him, checking over his injuries. The other Commandos are patching up each other too.

“No, you?”

Steve shakes his head, and Bucky can see how it breaks Steve’s heart a little. He’s sweet on Peggy, but Peggy doesn’t have anything that symbolizes Steve.

“You can still have that date. I hear lots a’ people fall in love with people that aren’t their soulmates.” Steve shrugs.

“Wouldn’t be fair to her soulmate or mine.”

Steve’s too good for this, Bucky thinks. Even if he doesn’t have his soulmate – they could have been dead by the time Bucky was born – Steve still deserves the chance.

 

 

 

As he falls from the train, he wonders if his soulmate will be there in heaven.

 

 

 

There’s death, blood, pain, and following orders. The next time Bucky’s himself is 2014, when Steve brings him home and they work through the programming.

It’s still a lot to get through, a lot he has to remember, but he’s better than he was when it all first started.

When Bucky looks in the mirror, his soul mark is gone, metal plating in its place. A part of him feels empty.

 

 

 

 

Bucky’s unable to breathe, the tendrils of the memory striking him through and through. He grips his hair, afraid that he’ll lash out to whoever comes near.

“Hey, Barnes,” Someone says, “Barnes, look at me.”

He forces his gaze up, looking at a blond but it isn’t Steve.

“There we go, now breathe with me. In and out. Deep. In. Out. In. Out.” The blond breathes with exaggerated movements, but it helps. It takes a few tries before he’s able to match up with the blond’s pace, slowly calming as the memory slides away. “There we go, it’s okay. We’re in Avengers Tower, it’s 2015. We’re safe,” The blond says quietly.

Bucky exhales one last time, heart rate finally under control. “Thank you.”

The blond shrugs, “happens to all of us.” He quirks a smile, “Clint Barton.”

Bucky’s heard of Clint from the others. Steve’s mentioned him a few times. Tony’s talked about him while repairing Bucky’s arm (the man talks constantly). Natalia – no, Natasha’s warned him about Clint’s human tragedy tendencies. Bruce has answered questions about all the Avengers. Bucky hasn’t met Thor yet.

“Bucky Barnes,” He says.

“I gathered that,” Clint stands, offering a hand. “Wanna grab some food?” Now that Bucky’s, for a lack of better word, alright, he’s starving.

“Yeah, okay,” He agrees, carefully taking Clint’s hand with his real one. He relaxes completely as he stands. Clint smiles again. On their way to the kitchen he asks, “Hawkeye, right?”

“That’s me,” Clint mimes shooting an arrow. Bucky had originally thought Clint was his soulmate, when Steve mentioned Clint being an archer. But he’s never felt anything from his soulmate, so it’s not.

His soulmate could’ve been any archer he had run into as the Winter Soldier and is now dead. The thought hurts.

 

 

 

“Your soul mark,” Tony begins, curiously, “Where was it?”

Bucky shoots him an annoyed look. He doesn’t talk about Steve’s circle (an arc reactor – they know now) or Tony’s mark of one of Steve’s old sketches.

“My left shoulder blade,” He answers after a moment, because the quickest way to get Tony to stop being annoying is to answer his questions. Tony hums, and before Tony can ask, he adds, “It was a bow and arrow.”

Tony’s eyebrows shoot up at that as he does something to Bucky’s arm that makes it tingle weirdly. “Have you ever considered that it’s Clint-?”

“Yes, I’ve considered; no it’s not. I don’t feel anything from my soulmate.”

“Bruce, baby, what do you think?” Tony calls and Bruce glances up from his work. Bruce has his own lab, Bucky’s got no idea why he’s hanging around here.

“If your soul mark is missing now,” Bruce says instead of _if your mark got ripped from your skin by psycho doctors_ , “you may not feel anything even if your soulmate’s alive.”

“That’s depressing,” Tony snorts. Bucky frowns. “You seen Clint’s soul mark?”

“No,” he admits, because he hasn’t. Tony finishes up his arm, so he steps away from the stool. “Stay out of my love life Stark.”

Tony waves his fingers at him cheekily.

Goddamn Starks.

 

 

 

 

Clint’s soul mark is crosshairs on his left shoulder. In the center is the insignia for the Sergeant.

Bucky knows because he’s staring at it. Clint’s looking at him back, slightly confused.

“Barnes?” He says, “you okay?”

“Your soul mark,” He nods to Clint’s shoulder. Clint shrugs.

“Yeah, bit bland; freaked some people out when I was younger,” Clint says. Bucky frowns. Clint’s brow furrows, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing…it’s just, I was a sniper…in the war.” Clint’s eyes widen, but Bucky continues before he can speak, “And, I had a bow and arrow back here.” He gestures to where the mark once sat.

“I was wondering,” Clint says, quieter now. “But you never said anything, so I didn’t think. When you had that panic attack when we met, I felt it, but you, you didn’t-”

Bucky shakes his head, somber, “Bruce thinks my mark being taken means I won’t feel anything.” Clint looks like he’s about to cry, so Bucky steps closer. “It’s no big deal, I’ve gotten used to it.”

Clint reaches up, placing his hands on Bucky’s cheeks. Bucky feels something within him settle. Like how he relaxed during the panic attack.

“Can I kiss you?” Bucky asks, quiet. Clint nods, leaning in. Bucky kisses him, gentle. A sense of warmth and love settles over him. Safety. This is what being soulmates feel like. Easing back, the feeling dissipates a little, but not completely.

“Did you feel that?” Clint asks in a whisper. He looks as content as Bucky feels.

“I did,” He says, kissing Clint again.

He wants to feel this way for a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [tumblr](http://torii-storii.tumblr.com/)


End file.
